Hey, all, happy news. In an effort to break away from the Daily Cal and its hellish daily hard news style and rekindle my love for the written word, I went and pitched myself to the book editor of the East Bay Express. Lo and behold, I seem to have gotten myself a tentative assignment - a top five list of the year's best sci-fi books! Hooray! This makes me very happy for there are fewer things that are closer to my heart. Only problem is, well, I'm behind in my reading and it turnns out I haven't been keeping up with the year's science fiction nearly as much as I should have. So here's a question for you - what're some good sci fi books that have come out in 2002 that I can take a look at? Someone's already suggested Neil Gaiman's "American Gods," but I need four more titles. C'mon, give me a hand- you know I'd do the same for you...

PS. Go see "Spirited Away." It's awesome. It'll make you forget your troubles. And, if you want a scare, go see "The Ring." It's honestly the scariest thing I've seen in my entire life.

Um, about the only SF story Iv'e read from this year is Orson Scott Card's "Shadow Puppets", but it's really good. Despite the fact that it's like the fifth sequel to Ender's Game, he's found a really, really interesting way of keeping the concept fresh--veering off to deal with other characters in a totally different time frame. And it deals with what the political situation might become in another century or so, so it's very relevant.